No bitterness as Red Bull congratulates Mercedes

Dr Helmut Marko insists there are no hard feelings between Red Bull and Mercedes, after Nico Rosberg last weekend scored the German carmaker’s first works grand prix win in half a century.

Earlier, the two teams had been at loggerheads over the controversial ’double-DRS’ innovation, with Mercedes returning fire by questioning the legality of Red Bull’s engine settings.

When asked if the spat meant Sunday’s Shanghai result was sour in Red Bull advisor Marko’s mouth, the Austrian insisted: "We’re competitors, and of course we all try to get the best outcome for our own teams.

"But I congratulated Norbert Haug sincerely at the airport in Shanghai."

Marko said the double-DRS argument is effectively now over.

"The unsuccessful protest means that the F-duct system is legal," he said, "so for us that’s it."

Red Bull boss Christian Horner admitted this week that it is "inevitable" other teams will now seek to develop their own double-DRS.

"First of all, like any component," he is quoted by the Daily Mail, "it has to earn a place on the car as a package.

"It’s not a given that on everybody’s car it’s bolt-on lap time."